


You Are Not Like Him

by puppyfacedbrokenboys



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Blood, Canon Compliant, Daddy Issues, F/M, Future Fic, Guilt, Happy Ending, Jake's dad makes an appearance, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-06 03:34:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1842832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyfacedbrokenboys/pseuds/puppyfacedbrokenboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake’s dad issues come to a head and he does something stupid. Marley’s the first person he thinks of when he’s trying to figure out what to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Are Not Like Him

**Author's Note:**

> I know the ending will be problematic because it’s unhealthy as fuck but this is fanfiction and it is what it is. Anyway, enjoy!

He had been doing so well, trying to keep his aggression in check since High School. Now, four years later, he had college graduation glaring him in the face, coupled with finals piling on the stress. But none of that compared to coming home from a late night shift at the dance studio with his already frayed nerves to see his father—whom he hadn’t seen nor spoken a word to after his bar mitzvah (which was a whole other can of worms, in itself)—waiting for him on the front stoop of his shit hole of an apartment.

He wished he could just walk past the man, ignore him like the man had did to Jake his whole life, but there was no mistaking him. Jake had his build—he could see the same slope of his shoulders, but it was the eyes that really gave him away. They were the same eyes reflected back at Jake every morning in the mirror and it disgusted him.

The man disgusted him.

“ _What the fuck do you want?_ ” Jake growled, voice rough and gravelly, and it burned through his throat as he narrowed his eyes at the man. He squared his shoulders and raised his chin as he stalked forward until he was a mere step away from his sperm donor. The man that had merely passed on aggression problems and then left three children fatherless and full of questions asking:  _why, wasn’t I good enough for you? W_ _hat could I have done to make you stay?_

Those questions still plagued Jake, but the older he got, the more he realized it wasn’t his or Puck’s or Sarah’s fault, no. It was all this scum’s fault for not being man enough to raise his children. The scum who chose to be a coward and turn his back and never look back unless he needed something.

“Hey, look at you all grown up,” Nathaniel Puckerman greeted as if this were a mere father-son meeting and nothing more. The mere casualness to his tone made Jake scoff, clenching his fists in the pockets of his leather jacket. His sperm donor swayed on his feet with a grin, making Jake’s stomach twist in rage.

“Yeah, look at me. All grown up, no thanks to you,” Jake said, voice dripping with venom. “What do you want? If it’s money, well take a look around.” At this, Jake pulled his hands from his pockets and swept them around to indicate the apartment building and the run down California street they stood on. He gave a humorless laugh. “I ain’t got any to give. Some of us have to work our asses off to survive, why don’t you go try it sometime. In the meantime, you can get your ass out of here because there’s nothing for you here.”

“Jacob,” Nathaniel called out to his son, reaching out to clamp a hand on Jake’s arm.

 _Jacob_. That was his trigger. Jake’s brain snapped and he spun his body, one hand resting on his old man’s wrist and the other closing into a tight fist. His pulled his arm back and snapped it forward, not stopping until his fist connected with flesh and he felt the cartilage gave way under his hand.

And he kept swinging.

He was too far gone now, numb to the throbbing in his fist as his body went on autopilot. The box he had used to lock all of his demons away snapped open and flood through his body – the pain, the sadness, the guilt, the anger, all swirling dangerously together to seep into his bloodstream. He didn’t stop until he couldn’t lift his arm. Then his mind cleared, body sagging as he looked down at the bloody face of his father.

The  _smiling_  bloody face of his father.

Jake gagged; jumping back and scrambling away like a skittish animal. He fell back on the pavement and brought his hands up to his face. The bright red of the blood covering his hands seemed to glitter under the streetlamp. Jake could hear his father laughing over his harsh breathing, the mere horror of the sound of it all causing him to jump to his feet and run. Blood rushed in his ears as the rubber soles of his shoes hit the pavement.

He’d fucked up. Bad.

Jake ran and ran until his legs gave out from under him. He pitched forward, landing hard on the pavement as the air rushed out of his lungs. Tears were streaming down his face as he took a glance at his hands and he pitched to the side and got sick. He scooted away from it, gagging again and wiped the blood off in the grass under him.

Fuck, what was he going to do?

Clean hands fumbled for his phone, fingers shakily and frantically typing and swiping at the face as he called the first person he could think of.

“Hello?” a groggy female said over the phone. A pause, then: “Jake? Do you know what time it is?”

“Marley, I’ve fucked up. I’ve fucked up really bad,” Jake babbled hysterically, sobs choking his throat as he looked around him. Of course, his subconscious would seek out the one person that made him feel calm, even after all these years. “I don’t know what to do. I know we’re not—” He choked, inhaled sharply, then continued, “I need you, Marls. I’ve done something bad and I need you.”

Marley, bless her heart, soothed him over the phone. “Jake, honey, you need to calm down and breathe for me, okay?” And remarkably, his body did as she said. “I’m here, I promise. Just—do I need to come get you? Where are you?” If Jake was in his right mind, he’d wonder how the hell she was keeping so calm about this; why she wasn’t asking him what was wrong, but he didn’t care. He welcomed the sound of her voice as it cut through all the guilt and worry and confusion in his brain.

“I’m, uh—” He paused, now clear headed enough to check his surroundings. “You know what, no. Stay there. I’ll be there in like twenty minutes.” On foot, he’d run it. She wasn’t that far and he needed to run because he felt his skin crawling.

“Okay, I’ll be here,” Marley said, and now Jake could make out the worried and confused tone to her words. But she knew Jake; knew that she shouldn’t press him because he’d open up at his own pace.

“Okay,” he replied back before hanging up the phone, and started to run in the direction of her apartment.

* * *

 

Chest heaving, lungs burning, Jake stumbled his way up to the door of Marley’s building and fell into the buzzer button. Immediately the door buzzed to unlock the door, and Jake rushed up to the third floor, fifth door on the left. Jake’s knuckles barely hit the door before it was flung open and he was being pulled inside.

Marley took one look at him and gasped, eyes wide as her hand covered her mouth. Jake could only imagine how much of a monster he looked right now. “Jake, what—”

And the tiny grip that Jake had managed to hold onto on his run over snapped and he crumbled, sobbing again as Marley ushered him over to the couch. Jake had half a mind to worry about her white couch, but Marley was there, wrapping her arms around him, smoothing her hand over the back of his head and he let go of everything. He sagged into her body and told her the whole story. How it was an accident, he didn’t mean to, it just happened and he felt like a monster.

“You’re not a monster, Jake,” Marley whispered against his temple as he sobbed into her shoulder. She had him cradled tightly in her arms in an effort to keep him together.

“Yes, I am. I could have—I—Marls, what if I k-k—” Jake choked out, pulling back from her so fast that he pulled her with him.

“Jake, no. Don’t think like that. You didn’t—he was laughing, you said,” she told him frantically. “Jake, you’re—You’re not a monster.  _You are not like him_.” Jake shook his head and she put her finger to his lips. “No, just listen to me, okay. Yes, you lost control and you shouldn’t have, but you’ve hated the man your whole life. If it was me… god, I don’t even know what I would have done.

“But I know this. I know  _you_. You are not like him. You are working to be a better person than he ever was. And you know what, you never could be like him because you have _your mother’s heart._  And, dammit, Jake, that is the best part about you _._ That you have the ability to love with your whole heart and it kills you when you hurt the ones you love. Your father is not capable of that.”

The sincerity in Marley’s voice made Jake freeze, their eyes locked and Marley grabbed his face in between her hands and rested her forehead against his. “Jake, you’re going to be okay. Just breathe, okay?” And she made a show of taking deep breaths and coaxing him to do the same and soon his chest unclenched and he was breathing shallowly, but at least it was something.

“I love you,” Jake whispered, relaxing into her touch and eyes closed. It took a few seconds to register that he had said it, and when he did he lurched back as if he had been burned, trying to scramble off the couch and failing. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“Jake, stop,” Marley said calmly, causing Jake to pause and look at her. She was smiling. Why was she smiling? “I love you too. Now, will you calm down if I kiss you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jake swallowed hard and gave a nod, tensing up when he heard Marley giggle. “Oh, you big doofus, c’mere,” and she lent forward and pressed her lips to his. Sparks shot through his body and he fully relaxed into her touch, letting her have the control as her fingers scratched lightly through his hair.

“Okay, now, let me clean you up and we can figure out what you need to do,” Marley said before pressing a smaller kiss to the corner of his lips. Jake was lost in a daze as she hauled him up from the couch and led him into the bathroom to clean him up.

Well, at least good things came out of bad things.


End file.
